Environmentalists Call For Changes To LI Sound Dredging Plan

An attack submarine passes under the Gold Star Bridge as it leaves Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Conn.

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Environmentalists are calling on the EPA to make changes to a 30-year dredging plan for Long Island Sound.

The plan was released in January by the Army of Corps of Engineers, and it requires approval from the EPA.

It calls for continued dumping of dredged materials into areas of the Sound. Those materials, like silt and sand, are dredged by the Corps from waterways — mainly in Connecticut — to keep them navigable.

The plan received criticism from environmentalists at a public hearing in Port Jefferson.

"We expect the EPA to be protecting Long Island Sound not fostering a plan that degrades Long Island Sound," said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment. She said she worried the dredged materials could pollute the Sound and that she wants the EPA to make sure the Army Corps phases out open water dumping in the Sound.

"There’s no benchmarks, there’s no achievement goals that they have crafted," she said.

Stephen Perkins, director of Ocean and Coastal Policy at the EPA, said the EPA has proposed amendments to the plan that will provide alternatives to open water dumping. One of those alternatives is using some of the silt and sand to revitalize marshes rather than dumping it into the Sound.

"The proposed amendments are intended to support the overarching goal of reducing or eliminating open water disposal by establishing standards and procedures that will encourage practicable alternatives to open water disposal," he said.

The Army Corp’s plan would require either state or local governments, or private entities to cover the cost of any of those alternatives.

A long-simmering dispute over dumping dredged materials from rivers and harbors into Long Island Sound has flared up again with a new federal plan to govern disposal sites.

Connecticut backs the disposal of materials in designated areas while New York state and environmental activists are calling for the reuse of sediments. Four sites in the Sound are used for disposal, with two set to close by April unless a management plan is approved, said Jean Brochi, a Long Island Sound project manager at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Connecticut's environmental commissioner, Rob Klee, has endorsed a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plan to continue dumping dredged materials into areas of Long Island Sound. Those materials, like silt, are dredged by the corps from Connecticut waterways to keep them navigable.

Along with dumping some of the dredged materials into the Sound, the 30-year draft plan also suggests other ways to get rid of it, like recycling the dredged materials, and using it to fortify beaches, or restore marshes.